Top 10 Biggest Sports Leagues in the World | The Global Game Changers (2024)

Sports have always been associated with humans since ancient times. Well in the 300 and 400 BC, the sports had no rules, it was always a violent affair. However, over the years, sports underwent development. Gradually, the rules and regulations were established, organizing bodies came into existence, and fast forward to 2023, sports is now a million-dollar industry. With the technological evolution, commercialization, and professionalization, sports have become a business for the corporate world and big businessmen. Many biggest sports leagues that are going around the world are not only famous but also have millions of budgets. These fastest-growing sports leagues in the world, have contributed much to their domestic economy. In this blog, we will learn about the top 10 biggest sports leagues in the world and also the richest.

Top 10 Biggest Sports Leagues in the World

National Football League

The National Football League is an American Football League. It is the highest professional level of American football in the world. Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, and Los Angeles Chargers are some of the famous teams. It is a far more physical game than association football and thus requires lots of protective gear and equipment. In 2022, the league earned $18.6 Billion and the amount is only expected to rise. Thus, the National Football League is the world’s richest and biggest sports league.

Indian Premier League

This is the most pleasant surprise any Indian and especially an IPL lover can get. Indian Premier League, the brainchild of BCCI, occupies 2nd place in the list of the biggest and richest sports leagues in the world. This is incredible, especially when cricket is a major sport only in a handful of countries, and out of those, only 3-4 are dominating. This becomes even more fascinating when people in Europe or America are not at all aware of cricket. Viacom18 has bagged the digital streaming rights of IPL at a whopping Rs 48390 crore for 5 years. IPL makes a revenue of $300 million in 2022.

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Major League Baseball

Again the American league occupies one of the top spots in list of biggest sports leagues. Major League Baseball is a baseball league that is considered the oldest major professional sports league in the world. As cricket is famous in India, Baseball is famous in America. If you remember, the only All-Star cricket tournament took place in America on the baseball ground itself. The league generated an estimated revenue of $10.8 Billion in 2022.

National Basketball Association

NBA or National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league in North America. The NBA is the world’s most prestigious and consists of the richest players across the globe. Players like Lebron James, Anthony, and Butler are global icons in the Sports Industry. Teams like Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and Boston Celtics have a worldwide fan base. The NBA generates around $10 billion yearly as their revenue.

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English Premier League

The English Premier League or EPL is considered the world’s most difficult football league. Unlike Serie A and Bundesliga, in EPL no club can guarantee success. Even a club that is at the top of the table for most of the season, can be found in lower places at the end of the season. Here the table positions keep on changing and so do the champions each season. The clubs have been owned by millionaires and billionaires. The clubs in EPL, especially the big ones, are always under scrutiny for their expenditure. Evidently, the league generates substantial annual revenue of approximately £5.8 billion in 2022.

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League (NHL) features at number 6 in the list of the richest sports leagues in the world. Indians know less about the NHL. Hockey is quite famous in India, but cricket has always overshadowed hockey.

NHL is a league of ice hockey and the rules of ice hockey are slightly different than field hockey. The league has huge popularity in Canada and the United States. The estimated revenue generated by NHL is around $5 billion which makes it the 6th highest in the world.

Bundesliga

The German league ranks at number 7 in the list of the biggest sports leagues in the world. In 2022, the league generated revenue of €4 billion (approx). On a positive note, the league keeps producing talents to which the European clubs are always attracted.

UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League is the most prestigious and most craved trophy for any footballer and a football fan. The anthem, the atmosphere, everything is of top quality when it comes to UCL. UCL was founded in 1954. UEFA generates a total of 3.4 billion euros in 2022.

La Liga Santander

The Spanish league La Liga is number 9 and is among the richest sports leagues in the world. La Liga comprises some top European clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Villarreal, etc. Revenue generated by La Liga is around €2 billion in 2022.

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Serie A

Serie A is a football competition played in Italy. The competition has a great history along with great tradition. The league is famous for tactical play rather than a game of pace and thrill. Serie A has always been under scrutiny as Juventus dominates the league. Well, to football fans’ delight, in 2022, AC Milan won the Scudetto and has rejuvenated Italian football. Italian Serie A ranks at number 10 in the list of Sports leagues by highest revenue. The competition generates around € 1.25 billion every year.

Conclusion

Fans from all over the world are extremely passionate about their favorite sport and completely changed the face of every sports league in the world. Also, on the other hand, the game has become money oriented. But this money game has produced job opportunities in lakhs. This boosts the economy of the country. So these sports leagues are crucial for the overall development of the respective countries.

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